Paul Stuart Ostrove, the former executive vp of the Madison Avenue clothing store that was named for him, died last week of lymphoma at his home in Roslyn, N.Y. He was 73.
In 1938, Ralph Ostrove (Paul’s father) was searching for a name for the clothing store he was opening at Madison Avenue and 45th Street. His wife said, “Why don’t you call it Paul Stuart?” after their seven-year-old son. Ostrove later said, “My father liked it, and that’s what they named it. I don’t think I had much to say about it.”
Ostrove’s grandfather, Harry, had started a New York men’s store called Broadstreet’s around the time of World War I. By the 1920s, it had grown into a chain of three or four stores; it was sold in 1928, although Ralph Ostrove remained as president until 1937. The next year, he opened his own store around the corner from Brooks Brothers, which soon became known as “the poor man’s Brooks Brothers.”
Ostrove dusted boxes at the store on Saturdays while he was in high school. After graduating from Colby College and serving in the Army, he began his full-time career with Paul Stuart in 1955 as a salesman of shirts and ties. Later, as executive vp, he concentrated on merchandising for the men’s department. He liked to call the store’s elegant but understated suits and furnishings, “investment clothing.”
In the early 1960s, the store expanded from 45th Street around the corner onto Madison Avenue and then opened selling space on the second floor.
Ostrove is survived by his wife, daughter, two sons, and eight grandchildren.